Natural-gas utilities are advised there may be a shortage due to frozen pipelines; electric blackouts also possible

Several news sources are reporting that natural gas could be in short supply in their areas due to frozen pipelines. "Energy markets in the U.S heartland struggle to keep up with high demand for heating and electricity prompted by severe winter weather stretching from Texas to New England," the Springfield (Mo.) News Leader reports.

"As Texas utilities began rolling blackouts overnight due to extreme cold weather that's blocking natural gas pipelines with frozen water, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce issued an alert on behalf of City Utilities asking "everyone in the community to rally together to help all of us get through this dire situation."

The newspaper also reported the possibility of rolling electricity blackouts due to the extreme cold. "At 10:08 a.m. Monday, the Southwest Power Pool, a multistate energy market that includes Springfield's City Utilities, issued an "Energy Emergency Alert Level 3." . . . Level 3 means that rolling blackouts are a possibility."

City officials in Fulton, Mo., "said frozen natural gas wells in Oklahoma and Texas are causing a shortage of available natural gas, leading to an increase of as much as 100 times the typical purchase price," KRCG-TV reports.